Page 41 of Mercenary Princess

Antony opened her door, and he and Jen escorted her inside.

She nodded at Marco, who’d been left to watch the house feeds.

“I am going to rest. I do not wish to be disturbed unless I call for something,” she instructed as she moved up the carved wood staircase.

Her private suite was the only one down a long wing. It consisted of two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a private sitting area, a warm relic from a time when married couples didn’t share a bedroom.

That was not the marriage she planned to have, not that marriage of any kind fit into her life.

After setting the locks, she slipped out of her high heels and stalked to the closet, more anxious than she could ever remember being. All she could think about was getting to him, away from her guards and the things she didn’t want to think about. It was time to escape into a bit of pleasure, a fantasy she could conjure up again any night the cold, empty sheets felt like ice against her skin.

She grabbed the bag hidden in the back of her closet and tossed in some toiletries and clothes. She planned to be prepared this time. Anticipation was singing through her veins, and it felt as if every move she made was too slow. She only hoped Jen was ready to go in record time. Grabbing her heels, she maneuvered the hidden lever for the fireplace.

Soon enough, she was down the steps and all the way to the narrow, dimly lit stone passage as the barren fireplace silently righted itself above her.

Her heart beat faster with each step along the cold stone.

Jen met her from the opposite direction, and she felt some of her nerves ease. She nodded as they headed out. Jen went first to check everything before signaling Sophia.

The short distance seemed to take a lifetime with all the diversionary tactics Jen employed.

“Are you okay? You seem quieter tonight, and you’re… fidgeting.” Jen’s words permeated her frazzled thoughts as they drove down another street meant for misdirection.

She stilled, taking stock of her body and realizing she had been fidgeting and hadn’t noticed. Her thoughts hadn’t even been on her surroundings. They’d been taken over by Viktor. She’d only had one night in her own bed, but even as sore as she’d been, Sophia would have eagerly hopped right back into Viktor’s bed again instead of staying in her empty one the night before.

Her thoughts unfortunately turned to less pleasant things now that Jen had spoken.

“I’m just anxious to get there. Did you get enough sleep last night to be doing this?” she asked, not for the first time that day.

“I don’t require a lot of sleep, and I’m not on duty until tomorrow evening. It’ll all be good.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you sure you’re okay? Should I be worried about how antsy you are?”

Sophia snorted. “Maybe. I’m just anxious. I don’t think when I’m with Viktor, and I’m tired of thinking. My mother and her friends are complicating things when we already have too many unanswered questions about Jean Luc. Everything’s setting me on edge. I’m glad James found out about the secure bank vault, but even that makes me uncomfortable. I don’t like that he’s so good at hiding things that he could be using a vault from his dead father’s estate. Kate tailed him to that bank three times in four months. It wasn’t odd since he has accounts there. The surveillance notes don’t even show him bringing in a briefcase. But no one can even get in the door without having or opening an account with a minimum half-million dollars.” The facility in question was protected by the highest-end technology and securities systems. Their operatives were good, but they weren’t international bank robbers.

“We’ll know if he’s accessing his father’s vault as soon as Forde gets in there.” Considering it had taken James three months to fully hack the bank account information, she wasn’t convinced any of this would be easy. All they knew now was that his bank visits didn’t match any transaction information James found. That meant he was doing something in there that had nothing to do with his personal accounts.

Sophia nodded absently at Jen’s thoughts. Forde was in France now to become the bank’s latest client and get a tour.

It was the only place they could think of where Jean Luc might be hiding his secrets, but it wasn’t going to be easy to get in. Since they had no new information on who’d bought the ledger page, they were at a standstill again.

Jean Luc hadn’t done anything else—no late-night meetings with the president of France or anyone else, as far as Kate could see.

Jen drawled, “We’re almost to your Russian.”

Sophia’s shoulders actually relaxed at that pronouncement, but she felt her lips twitch. “Still don’t like him?”

Jen made a noise. “I’m reserving judgment. Not a fan of his tactics so far.”

Sophia understood that. Jen wasn’t getting the perks Sophia was from the experience. “Thank you for dealing with it anyway.”

Anticipation thrummed through her blood when they finally entered the gate and then the garage. Jen went through the security measures, but Sophia barely paid attention, more interested in stealing another night with Viktor. Every step, every security detail set in place, was making her teeth grind tighter. She’d already lost time with him because of the party she hadn’t wanted to be at.

Her high heels sank into the plush flooring as they passed through the front of the house and strode up the stairs to Viktor’s suite of rooms.

“You can go in. He is in the shower.” The Russian guard had directed the words to her, but Jen just started heading in. Sophia put a hand on her arm to stop her.

---